Stanford University instituted a policy that gives time off and paid leave from school responsibilities for female graduate students who give birth during their coursework, a policy that many at AU call progressive.
Gail Mahood, associate dean for graduate policy at Stanford, told the Chronicle of Higher Education that the university has implemented the policy to deal with the fact that women's critical professional years often coincide with peak childbearing years, which has made it difficult to retain top female talent, especially in the science fields.
The policy at Stanford allows students to postpone exams and coursework for up to two consecutive academic quarters with an automatic extension of one academic quarter to complete major university or department requirements.
Female graduate students involved in teaching, research or fellowships can receive up to six weeks paid leave and maintain their status as full-time students.
AU has no specific maternity leave policy for regular graduate students, according to Nathan Price, special assistant to the provost. If the student is also a part-time employee of the university, the solution would be whatever the student works out with her supervisor based on the requirements and flexibility of her job.
"If a student has a major life event that affects their studies, they should work with their faculty advisor," he said. "There is always that flexibility."
Price also said the way he would expect the student and faculty member to handle the situation would be through dialogue and to take things into account to make arrangements that are agreeable.
Graduate students who are full-time employees fall under the staff benefit policy, Price said. According to AU's Human Resources department, faculty members can take six to 16 weeks leave. They may take six weeks of short-term disability leave with full pay and up to 16 weeks, or ten extra weeks, under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Dana Rasmussen, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, called the policy "remarkably progressive" and "accommodating."
"If I'm giving you tons of money and can't write a 200-page paper for six weeks because I'm giving birth, then it makes sense," she said.
Jessica Tacka, a second year master's student in U.S. Foreign Policy at AU, said making the decision to get her master's immediately after undergraduate school was based not only on the job market, but also because of personal reasons.
"I don't think it would be easy to just assume that I'd get back to grad school eventually," Tacka said. "I would have a hard time prioritizing my academic and professional career over my personal career. A maternity leave for students makes so much sense in a world where pregnancy seems to be the last unavoidable gender inequality"
